Ajinkya Rahane likely to move to Delhi Capitals from Rajasthan Royals

Delhi Capitals had earlier roped in Ravichandran Ashwin from Kings XI Punjab and also traded off Trent Boult to Mumbai Indians.

Ajinkya Rahane plays a shot during Rajasthan Royals' match against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2019.

Ajinkya Rahane is likely to play for Delhi Capitals in next year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). After days of negotiations, Rajasthan Royals has decided to trade off its former captain — and in exchange could get two Delhi Capitals' players.

In its negotiation, Royals is trying to rope in Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia from Delhi. However, there has been no confirmation on this from the team officials.

Even though both the franchises remained tight-lipped on the issue, sources in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — who are aware of the development — confirmed to

Sportstar that the formalities have been completed, and the Board is likely to send an official statement soon.

Rahane — who captained Royals for two seasons -- has a price tag of Rs. 4 crore. The negotiations began months ago, at a time when the now BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly, was still an advisor with the Delhi Capitals. Last year, Rahane was removed from captaincy after eight games and Steven Smith was handed the job.

Read: Trent Boult heads to Mumbai Indians from Delhi Capitals

This will be Delhi’s second biggest trading this year. Last week, the franchise had roped in Ravichandran Ashwin from Kings XI Punjab, and now with Rahane joining the side, the batting department will be strengthened.

The side has some of the big names like Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari, and Rahane’s inclusion will certainly be a boost.

Iyer to remain captain

Even though Delhi has roped in Ravichandran Ashwin and Rahane, it has been learnt that the franchise is set to retain Iyer as its captain for the upcoming season. “That’s what has been decided for now,” one of the source, who is aware of the development, said.

With the IPL Governing Council setting a Thursday deadline for the franchises to submit their final list of retained and released players, the trade window will also close on the same day.